


Cat-zy for you

by sasuhina_gal



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blue and Red are cats, M/M, Third Wheeling kinda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 19:10:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9004405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sasuhina_gal/pseuds/sasuhina_gal
Summary: Keith was not happy that he had to third-wheel his brother's date, but the cute waiter might just make it worth it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For my Secret Santa [amegane-chan](http://amegane-chan.tumblr.com/)

Keith couldn’t help but grumble in his seat as his brother drove them downtown. Shiro had finally gotten the courage to ask his crush out on a date. The small problem was that she thought it was a group outing and had invited two of her friends. He had woken up to Shiro storming in his room, begging him to come with him, so it wouldn’t be so awkward.

“I don’t know why you couldn’t tell her it was a date you had asked her on. How did it suddenly become a group thing?” he asked, tugging at one of his ear piercings. He tended to do that when he was annoyed, ignoring how it would hurt later. He had a feeling that he would be doing it for the duration of the trip.

“She called me this morning and said she was able to find friends to come with her. I panicked.” Shiro said, shrugging, “look, I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”

“Snake bites?” Keith immediately asked

Shiro let out a tired sigh. “Why can’t you wait till after you graduate college to get those? Mom just let you get that industrial piercing.”

“Then I’d have to wait 4 years. I’m third wheeling your maybe date. You owe me Shiro.”

Shiro looked uncomfortable before he let out a groan, “ok, fine. Before your first week of college, I will take you to get snake bites. Mom’s gonna kill me though.”

A smirk graced Keith’s face. He enjoyed making his brother’s life miserable. He would fight to the death for him, hell yes, but still making him uncomfortable was one of his few hobbies.

“Where are we going anyway?”

“There’s an animal café that Allura wanted to go to. It opened recently and you need to get a reservation to sit in for 70 minutes.”

“Whatever, as long as you’re paying.”

After a few more minutes, Shiro parallel parked into a spot. He stopped the car completely and let his uneasy breath of air out. Keith stared at his brother. It wasn’t often he’d see Shiro nervous. He always looked like nothing could bother him, but he knew better.

“Hey,” he nudged Shiro’s shoulder, “if she’s rude to you, I can set her straight.”

A weak laugh left Shiro’s lips, “I wouldn’t wish your silver tongue on anyone.”

“Hey, I’m not that bad.”

“Right. I’ll pretend you didn’t just say that.” He let out another breath and seemed to centre himself, “I’ll be fine. Come on, we have to meet them.”

Keith climbed out of the car and followed his brother down the street. Shiro was typing away at his phone, while he looked around. Most of the places around were clothing stores, a few cafes and he even spotted a book and art supply store. He wondered the chances of being let go early to go spend time in there.

“There she is.” Keith looked in front of him where a tall dark skinned woman stood with a much shorter girl with short amber hair and a man with a yellow bandana tied around his forehead. They looked like such an odd group but they all seemed to at complete ease with each other.

“Allura!” Shiro called

The dark skinned woman turned her head, her dyed white hair flowing effortlessly behind her. Her face brightened at the sight of Shiro. Keith was starting to wonder if Allura did think this was a date, unless that was just her usual personality.

“Shiro, it’s so nice to see you again. You sounded very strange on the phone earlier so I got worried you might cancel.”

“Oh, no. of course not. Absolutely not. Why would I?” Keith nudges his brother to stop the stream of words that seemed to suddenly unflow from his mouth. He could tell Shiro still wanted this to go well. He might not want to be there but he wasn’t about to let him mess it up because he was nervous. “uh, um, this is my brother Keith.”

Allura turned to Keith and gave him a blinding smile. “So you’re Keith. It’s nice to meet you. Shiro talks about you a lot.”

“You too.” He replied, ignoring the look Shiro shot him.

Allura gestured to the people standing next to her. The girl looked young and a bit familiar but the man next to her he definitely recognised. Hunk Garret was in his high school’s graduating class and had been valedictorian as well. He was surprised he knew Allura.

“These are my friends, Pidge and Hunk. Pidge was my prospie for the college’s student visit. I’m glad to say both they and Hunk will be attending Voltron University in the fall.”

Keith took quick note of the use of pronouns. He didn’t want to insult Pidge later. “Right. Actually Hunk went to my school.”

“So did I.” Pidge said, a proud smile on their face.

“Wait, what?”

Hunk laughed, pointing at Pidge, “Pidge was the person who entered high school early and graduated beginning of our Junior year, remember? The rumours about them were all over school.”

He had forgotten about that. People hadn’t been able to get any info on the person, so Keith was sure they didn’t exist. He suddenly had a new found respect for Pidge.

“Well, now that we’ve gotten introductions out of the way, shall we got inside?” Allura asked. Keith looked at the store she had been in front of when they arrived. The large glass window showed the inside. He could see wooden floors covered with white round tables and matching chairs. He even spotted pale blue fluffy bean bag chairs and ottomans. He looked up at the sign, the words written in galaxy blue, ‘Paladin Pets Café’.

Shiro opened the door for all of them, punching Keith in the arm as he passed to get inside. He knew it was for his comment earlier, so all he did was smirk at the glare he was getting. He looked around, getting a much better look at the place. The walls had different shelves where some cats were sitting, looking down at the other patrons. A long wooden bar separated the workers working on drinks from everyone else. There were bar stools in front for guests to sit and a box of small cat toys sat at one end of the bar. He saw that further back in the café, tables were replaced with couches and large sitting pillows. Lining the wall were cages with chinchillas and he was sure he spotted a rabbit or two in one of them. The cats didn’t seem to bother them, except for a ginger that sat in front one the cages, its tail twitching. He could see a waiter who was cleaning up a nearby table, watching the cat closely.

“Hello.” A woman with dark hair pulled into a bun and an apron walked up to them, “welcome to Paladin Pet Café. Do you have a reservation?”

“Yes, under Shirogane.” Shiro answered

The woman went behind the bar and pulled out an iPad from under the counter and started to pull something up. “yes, Shirogane. We did get your call this morning about the additions to your group.” Shiro gave a slightly uncomfortable smile. “right this way.” She led them to table in the middle of the room. “your server will be here shortly.”

The table filled with awkward silence. Shiro and Allura kept glancing at each other but not saying anything. Pidge and Hunk were staring at the two like it was their new favourite show. He had a good feeling they knew what was really supposed to be happening here. He started to tug on his earing again. He was sure if they were alone, things could move along, but nope. He was stuck here until someone made a move.

“Oh no you don’t!” Keith looked up where he saw the waiter from before grab the ginger cat, who looked like they were in the middle of jumping. “leave the chinchillas alone. I swear, every other cat is fine with them, except for you.”

He turned to walk in their direction, giving Keith a better look at him.

_‘Fuck, he’s cute.’_

The waiter was tall with tan skin, his blue eyes focused on the cat in his hands. The lights made his brown hair glimmer a bit. He watched as the waiter deposited the cat on one of the shelves. He watched the stretch of his shirt and found his eyes moving downwards towards the guy’s-

_‘Nope, no. stop! Keith, do not start thinking about the potentially straight guy. That always ends badly.’_ He tugged harder on his earing when he felt something slap the back of his hand.

“Keep doing that, and you’ll yank the earing right out. And seeing how that’s a cartilage piercing, it’ll hurt much worse than a flesh one.” The same waiter he was goggling at was standing in front of him, a laminated menu in his hand. He was giving him a small smile causing static to buzz softly in Keith’s head.

“Anyway, I’m Lance and I’ll be your waiter and animal handler today. Our snacks are served English tea style, so,” he put the menu in the middle of the table, “you can choose the types of food you want or you can order one of the premade ones. The Cat Tower, in my opinion, has everything.”

“That seems fine.”

“Can we add your biggest slice of chinchilla-lot chocolate cake?” Pidge asked, their eyes gleaming

“Pidge, you don’t need all that sugar.” Allura scolded

“Right, because this scene already gives me cavities.” Pidge teased. Allura’s face became flushed and she kept quiet.

“Drinks?” Shiro ordered a pot of green tea, while Pidge ordered a cappuccino and Hunk, an ice tea. Keith just asked for a cup to share the green tea. “Alright, I’ll be right back.” Lance gave them a friendly smile and Keith had to turn from him. He wanted to leave even more; he wasn’t sure how to act around the cute waiter, who may not be interested.

Shiro and Allura started to loosen up and focus more on each other, leaving the others to their own devices. Keith was getting bored with being ignored. His hands twitched to start pulling at his earing again, but he kept remembering Lance’s warning. Then he remembered the smile he gave him.

_‘Oh my god, what is wrong with me? Get a grip Kogane. He’s probably straight and not interested.’_

Lance came back out balancing a tray in one hand and two display towers in the other. The look of utter concentration made Keith stare at his face. Lance was able to make it back to the table without any problem and served them their drinks before taking a breath.

“Ok, so about the animals. We ask that you don’t wake up any sleeping animals. Even the animals in the cages are allowed to be taken out by you, but please be careful. They can be a bit of escape artist. If need help come and get me. Also, if you want to take a picture, come ask one of us. Some of the animals don’t like flash and our camera is set so lighting is pretty perfect. You can use any of the toys we have and you’re allowed to pick up the cats if they come near you and actually stay by you.”  

He gave the instructions and left them to go talk to another table. Allura allowed Shiro one macaroon before dragging him over to the chinchilla cage. Keith could tell Shiro was over whatever worries he had before. He could tell Shiro would be a happy daze to answer to his teasing later. Pidge and Hunk stayed with him, trying to make conversation but the two would go off talking about technology stuff he didn’t understand. Instead, he occupied himself by glancing at Lance, who was talking to a group of girls. A Blue Russian was being held in his arms and he let the girls pet it. He watched as Lance would talk to the girls, getting them to laugh.

“Take a picture. It’ll last longer.” He turned to see Pidge giving him a knowing smirk.

“What?”

“You keep staring at him. Why don’t you talk to him?”

“I’m not, that’s not…I’m not here to flirt with someone I’m not interested in. I’m here for Shiro.”

Pidge’s smirk got bigger, “yeah, Shiro who is currently occupied with his date, who was also sure that she need support. But of course they’re fine and instead of sitting here doing nothing, you could flirt with the waiter.”

“It’s not like that.” Keith said, trying to convince Pidge. He was sure; he was also trying to convince himself.

“Right. Whatever. I’m pretty sure the guy kept looking at you, so I’d give it a go. I’m going to go check out the rabbits.”

Pidge left them while Hunk sat there. “You know,” Keith looked at Hunk, “you don’t have to flirt, but I do think you should at least talk to him.”

“I just met him.”

“Yeah but, he seems nice and you seemed kinda awkward around him. I’ve never really know you to be awkward.”

“Except, I’m pretty sure he’s straight.” He nodded to where Lance was still entertaining the girls

“Keith, you know that even if he likes girls, he might not be totally straight. Just give a chance.” Hunk patted him on the shoulder before getting up. He went bar counter, when a fluffy Maine coon jumped up next to him, gaining the attention of the taller man.

Keith knew he was right, but getting rejected while already being dragged out on a date he was third wheeling – or was it still third wheeling with Pidge and Hunk with him? – was not on his agenda. He leaned his head back, trying to sooth the tension in his neck when he saw the ginger cat from before jumping down from their pedestal. They didn’t go straight to the cages like he thought they would. Instead, they weaved around the tables and chairs, ignoring any of the patrons who tried to call it over. However, they stopped over by Keith and stared up at him. He felt like he was being judged as the cat’s amber eyes stared up at him, when it crouched down and sprang up. Keith jolted back slightly as it landed on his lap. He watched the cat curl up on his lap and stay there. He stared down at the red fluffy ball on his lap. What the hell just happened?

“Wow,” he looked up to see Lance, stilling holding the Russian Blue, standing over him, “Red usually doesn’t like people. She finds it much more fun to bother the caged animals. What did you do?”

“Uh, nothing. She just looked at me and next thing I know I’ve got a lap full of cat.” Keith wasn’t sure what to do with his hands.

“Try petting her. If she willingly went into your lap, she might let you.”

“Uhh…” Keith knew cats didn’t like being petted in certain places but he didn’t know where to put his hands. He saw Lance drop the cat in his hands to the floor and took Keith’s hand. He had to stop the blush from taking his face. He wanted to pull away, but let Lance lead his hand in between Red’s ears.

“Pet her there, it’s her favourite spot.” He started petting her, letting the feeling of her silky fur run through his fingers. She started to vibrate slightly under his hand as she began to purr. “Look at that. Looks like Red really likes you.” Lance gave him a gentle smile. Keith turned his head and focused on Red. It didn’t help that Lance was really cute and his smile seemed to be one of his best features.

“So,” Lance said filling the silence, “how did you end up third wheeling at date?”

Keith didn’t bother asking how he knew. The date seemed more than obvious now that Shiro and Allura were cuddled up by the cages. “uh, my brother invited me when his date invited two of her friends. But it sounded like she got nervous and invited them as support.”

“Yeah, that lasted long.” Lance said, his eyes looking at the couple. “How come you haven’t left yet?”

“He’s my ride. And I didn’t want to leave him in case things went south.”

“Aww, emo boy does have a heart.”

Keith gave Lance a look, which he only shrugged to, “dude, a mullet and piercings? Can’t blame me.”

“It’s not a mullet.” Keith muttered, focusing on Red again.

“Sure. But hey, at least you pull it off. Really well too.” Lance said before moving away. Keith’s face felt hot as he looked at Lance from under his eyelashes. He looked back down at Red, who was looking at him. He was more than sure that the cat was judging him.

The 70 minutes seemed to pass much quicker, with all the glances in Lance’s direction. He had come back over when the Russian Blue tried swatting at Red’s tail. Red just glared down at the cat from Keith’s lap and the cat didn’t even react to Keith trying to shew it away.

“Sorry. Blue enjoys messing with Red sometimes.” He patted his leg and Blue, as he now knew it as, climbed up Lance’s pants leg and up to his shoulder, Lance holding his hand under to keep Blue steady.

“Guess it’s like Red and those chinchillas.” He said as he looked over to where Allura was giggling at the chinchilla on Shiro’s shoulder.

“To whoever adopts her eventually, I hope they keep they’re things up high, cause she likes to jump. Of course, I’m sure if she had someone like you, all she’d want to do is sleep.”

He thought about it. He’d like a pet and their college already allowed small animals on campus.

“I wouldn’t even know how to take care of a pet.”

Lance gave him a small shrug. “I wouldn’t mind tutoring you. I have an amazing reward system.” He gave Keith a flirty smirk before walking off, leaving Keith slightly flustered and light headed.

Before he knew it, Lance getting last pictures with the café camera. He hadn’t seen Lance approach till he heard the shutter. Lance leaned close to him to show the picture of him looking down at Red, whose paws gravitated up his shirt. He didn’t even realise a smile was on his face till he looked at the picture.

“You know you should actually smile more often. You look nice with it.” Keith couldn’t stop the flush from taking over his cheeks again. He never blushed this much before. Lance smiled at that, like he had been hoping for that to happen.

The girl from before took care printing their bill while they watched Lance choose out 2 different pictures for each member of group to keep. He handed them their printed pictures and waved them goodbye, giving Keith an extra smile.

“These pictures were very nice. It was such a good idea to give the patrons pictures.” Allura said as she looked over hers.

Keith looked at his picture of him and Red, her paws stretching up his shirt and one of Blue swatting at Red’s tail. He flipped the second picture over, not expecting anything and stopped when he saw a set of number and the words, ‘Call me? I’d still like to help tutor you. Lance’. He was sure he never felt his face go red so fast.

“Keith, are you ok? You’re completely red.” Shiro asked. He looked over Keith’s shoulder and let out a laugh, “wow, nice job. And you said you didn’t want to come.”

Keith shot him a glare, but his red cheeks made it seem half hearted. He looked back into the café where Lance was cleaning their table, Red on Keith’s abandoned chair. Lance happened to look over and see Keith staring at him. He gave him a big smile and waved. Keith turned his head, and took off towards his brother’s car.

_‘Shit, he’s cute and interested. God damn it!’_

He was sure his brother took advantage of how embarrassed he was because he took a good 10 minutes to come over to the car. When he did get there, he gave him a teasing smile but thankfully for the sake of his sanity, he didn’t say anything. However when they got into the car, Shiro did say passingly, “I’m sure he’d love to pull at your snake bites later.”

“Shiro, shut up, I’m warning you.”

When he did text Lance later, Lance asked, “wanna come back to the café? Red misses you and so does someone else.”

Keith wasn’t sure if he’d be able to handle himself with Lance. He was flirty, extreme and completely sure of himself. People like Lance, he would have turned away in a second. Maybe it was his looks, or the very obvious love and care he had for the animals, but Keith was willing to give it a chance.

He entered his first year with Red in hand and a boyfriend who taught him how to have a pet, with the best reward system he ever had.


End file.
